She who listens

The Pythia was the name given to the generations of oracular priestesses of Apollo at Delphi.  When the priestess intended to provide prophesy, she sat on a three-legged stool in a cave under Mount Parnassus over a hole in the floor of a cave, the Adyton, holding a bowl of water and laurel leaves.  From the fissure in the floor the sacred pneuma were emitted, hypothesized by some archaeologists to be a gaseous entheogen that caused the priestess to have visions.  The information given by the Oracle was used by all classes of society to help make decisions ranging from whether to go to war to selecting a mate.

These priestesses were granted liberties that were unusual for Greek women of their time; they could own property, attend public events, were paid and housed by the state and were free from taxation.  Their importance in Greek society is clear from this exulted status. 

The name of this blog honors the long tradition of seers who speak to the gods and who listen constantly for their voices.